According to Reuters, the Commerce Department announced that starts declined 14.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual 956,000-unit pace.

Groundbreaking for single-family homes, which is the largest part of the market, fell 2.4 percent in August to a 643,000-unit pace after a hefty increase of 11.1 percent in July. Despite the fall, a Reuters survey showed that homebuilder sentiment hit its highest level in nearly nine years in September and builders reported a sharp pick-up in buyer traffic since early summer.